


Falling Into You

by ava_martini



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Skates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25691263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ava_martini/pseuds/ava_martini
Summary: Some genius decided that their Senior Prom theme would involve roller skates.  Leslie Knope would rather die than admit to her classmates that she couldn't skate.  So, armed with confidence and a hint of annoyance, she finds the furthest rink from her town and is determined to be the best skater after a month of practice.  She planned it all and even documented her 5-step process of learning how to roller skate.  What she didn't plan on was meeting Ben Wyatt.  And she didn't plan on falling for him, after she literally fell on him.  Oh boy.  High School was ending for Leslie Knope but something else was about to begin.High School AU (BENSLIE)
Relationships: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt
Comments: 11
Kudos: 15





	Falling Into You

Leslie Knope peeked inside the glass doors of Ring Around the Rink and felt an irrational relief to see that it wasn't crowded. She didn't want to be here. She preferred to spend her last remaining high school Saturdays at home, working on their yearbook.

She lifted her sunglasses, slid it on top of her head to keep her blonde curls away from her forehead, and pushed the door open. The cold air conditioned blast escaped from the opening, cooling her flushed face. She walked into the establishment and admired the retro decoration.

She made her way to the reception area and paid for two hours and found a bench near the gate of the rink. She placed her backpack next to her, unzipped it and pulled out her skates. The only thing that Leslie thought was good about this situation was her new roller skates. She saw them on the store shelf and instantly fell in love. The purple velvet material, pink laces with a tiny sunflower embroidered near the heel, called out to her. It was super cute and made her forget for a moment why she hated having to get one in the first place.

Senior prom was a month away. And the student body had decided that the theme of their senior year dance would involve roller skates. Everyone loved it. Leslie Knope hated it with all her heart. She didn't know how to skate, and she didn't want to admit it to anyone. So, she put on a fake smile and clapped her hands when the announcement was made.

That night, she googled everything there was to know about roller skating. She managed to find an album of injuries one can acquire while trying to learn this form of recreational activity, and that freaked her out for an hour. Seriously, Leslie thought, why would someone want to put wheels on their feet? She couldn't even walk without tripping on herself. She was definitely scared for her life. If she ended up walking with a crutch during graduation, she would be very, very angry. 

But she pushed all the negative thoughts aside and built a binder full of tips on how to roller skate. She printed out pictures of the correct way to skate. She cut them up and glued them to the pages. She scribbled out tiny notes on the border. Then for the final touch, she wrote on the cover of her binder, in block letters, with her pink marker: LESLIE KNOPE – ROLLER SKATER EXTRAORDINAIRE.

Part of her research included scouting for a rink far from town that she could go to for practice. Ring Around the Rink was the furthest and one that would have the least probability that she'd bump into anyone she knew. And this gave her a sense of control over her dilemma, it kept the panic attack at bay. 

She leaned down and tied the laces tightly on her new skates. Her skates were really pretty, she thought to herself. They matched her pink and white shirt under her denim jumper which had a hint of lavender shade. She took a picture of her skates to remember this moment and a few selfies. She was also stalling from standing up. She had this crazy idea that the minute she tried to get up, she'd fall on her face.

She slipped her phone in her pocket, shoved her backpack under the bench and tried to stand. Tried being the keyword. She started with slowly putting her weight on her legs, her hands planted on the surface of the bench, but she couldn't lift herself up. She then tried to turn her whole body so she'd be pushing off from the bench like she would if she did a push up. That also failed miserably and she found herself on her knees, unsure of what to do next.

"Need help?"

Leslie was startled by a deep voice. She turned her head and gawked at a boy who offered his hand to her. She wanted to tell him to go away. But she really didn't know how to get up without anyone's help. Sighing, she took his hand and he pulled her up. 

She almost rolled herself to her death. One foot moved forward, the other moved backward, then both feet moved sideways. Leslie didn't know she could do splits until she was actually doing them now. And oh god, she swore she'd have had broken bones if it wasn't for the stranger. He held her by the waist to keep her steady, and he faltered only a little when Leslie fell on him.

She was positive that her face had turned crimson. She could feel the heat rise to her head. This was by far the most embarrassing moment of her 18-year existence on earth. She couldn't even look at the guy who was holding her in a very intimate way. She would have pushed herself off him, but that would mean having to stand on her own two feet.

"Thank you," she managed to choke out in a tiny voice. The stranger removed his hands from her hips and gripped her arms instead. 

"Try to balance now," he said, his voice laced with concern.

Leslie tried to put her weight on her feet, she realized she was holding on to his arms with a deadly grip. She'd apologize later. Right now, she was more worried that he'd let her go. 

"Don't worry, I won't let go."

Crap on a spatula, was he reading her mind? Leslie thought a panic attack was skirting its way to the surface of her emotions.

He waited patiently for her as she fixed her posture. Leslie wanted to die. It didn't seem like it was this hard when she watched the how-to videos. When she gets home later, she would leave some harsh comments on those videos.

Finally, she thought she'd be able to safely stand on her own. She let go of the stranger's arms and kept herself steady.

Sensing that she almost had it, he loosened his hold on her. Feeling proud of herself, Leslie tested her balance. She could lift her foot one at a time and managed to walk a few steps towards the gate. She turned her head to the boy, but he was already walking back to his friends. She was glad, at least then she didn't have to say thank you again and avoid an embarrassing small talk with him.

She made it past the gate, Leslie swore it took half her energy to get there. Staying at the side of the rink so she could keep her hands on the railing, she slowly made her way around. Granted she wasn't lifting her feet much, and she was using her arms to pull herself around the rink, she still loved the feel of gliding smoothly. At the start, she struggled to keep herself from losing her footing, but after a while, she figured that bending her knees a little helped keep her anchored. 

She could understand now why people loved skating. It was actually fun, she found herself smiling when she did her second lap. She was lifting her feet a bit now. And she wasn't as scared as she was when she started.

Taking a break, she leaned on the railing and watched other people skate with ease. As she observed them perform complicated moves, she promised herself that she'd be able to do the same by end of the month. She was mesmerized by one girl who seemed to be spinning for more than a minute now. Leslie wondered how the girl could manage that without getting dizzy.

She continued her search until she found the guy that helped her earlier. He was hanging out with three other people in the middle of the rink. They were laughing and pushing each other around. He and his friends appeared to be around her age. And she understood that she was staring, but if she was being honest, she thought it was because he was not bad to look at. Okay fine, he was cute, she admitted to herself. He had brown hair, swept to the side, he was wearing a checkered green shirt and loose pants. It was evident that he was comfortable being on skates. He was surefooted as he skated in circles around his friends without once faltering. He glanced up suddenly and Leslie shifted her head as fast as she could, but it was too late. He had seen her checking him out. 

She wasn't entirely sure why she felt all flustered that he'd caught her staring. She waited a few minutes before she peeked again, thinking he'd probably looked away by now, but instead she caught his eyes and he did a little wave at her. Leslie choked on her tongue. She whipped herself around hastily, almost losing her balance with the sudden movement.

Trying to take her mind off her embarrassing moment, she took another lap around the rink. She was getting the hang of it now, but she had a long way to go, specially, since she couldn't skate without letting go of the railing. But that could be her agenda for next Saturday. Today, she was just glad she didn't have a total wipe out in the middle of the floor.

After her two hours were up, she left the rink and made her way back to her bench carefully. She was tired, but she truly enjoyed it. She had no doubt in her mind that she'd be able to learn to skate like an expert soon. 

After packing her skates, she took one last survey to see if she could spot the boy. He was nowhere to be found and she felt a little disappointed. Leslie shrugged it off. She didn't have any intentions of making friends anyway, this was an area far from her town. She didn't know anyone here and she was having fun on her own.

She left the building with a lot more positive outlook for the upcoming prom. She would totally blow them away with her skills and they'd totally forget that she was dateless. She didn't need a date for prom, anyway. She was going with Ann Perkins. Her best friend since grade school. But Leslie couldn't admit to Ann that she didn't know how to skate, because she was afraid that Ann would recommend not going. And Leslie wanted to go to prom. She didn't attend her junior prom and she regretted it. Ann had gone with her then boyfriend and Leslie bailed, pretending she was sick so no one would tease her that she didn't have a date. This year, Ann was single and promised Leslie that they could go together.

Her head full of thoughts, Leslie walked towards her yellow secondhand Volkswagen Beetle parked next to the curb, she didn't notice the boy leaning on the exterior wall of the building, hidden behind the trees that lined the sidewalk.

Ben Wyatt was half listening to his friends talk about the new arcade that opened across the boardwalk. The other half of his attention was on the cute new girl that he'd helped earlier. He had never seen her before, and he was sure she didn't go to his school. He hoped she'd be back. Maybe he can find the courage to talk to her next time, he thought to himself as he watched her drive away.


End file.
